Chelsea make our shortest away trip of the campaign this evening, crossing the borough for a Premier League clash at Fulham. It will be the first SW6 derby watched by a crowd since March 2019, though the new 8,650 Riverside Stand, which will eventually tip Craven Cottage capacity over 29,000, is half-finished until 2023/24.

The return game will come at the Bridge on 3 February, at the end of a two-week break that follows Liverpool away on 21 January.

Chelsea are unbeaten in our last seven away games against newly promoted clubs, since our 3-0 defeat at Sheffield United in July 2020. That was our only reverse in our past 12 matches against such sides (eight wins, three draws).

This timing of this rescheduled ‘postcode derby’ could be thought unfortunate considering Chelsea’s injury list arc and the fact the Cottagers are aiming for a fourth consecutive top-flight win for the first time since April 1966. Local rivalries can make fools of form-followers, though, and the Blues have an enviable record in this senior west London derby fixture. Fulham’s only victory in 35 league games, a run going back to 1979 in the old Division Two, was 20 meetings ago on the banks of the Thames.

• Check out the form and head-to-head stats

• SW6 friends and foes: Five who played for Fulham and Chelsea

• Tuning up ahead of Fulham

We have kept a clean sheet in six of our last eight matches against our SW6 neighbours conceding just two goals in that run.

Chelsea team news

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Carney Chukwuemeka, Marc Cucurella, Thiago Silva and Denis Zakaria (not in the starting line-up at the Etihad on Sunday) will be among the players hoping to be involved against one of the most direct and open teams in the Premier League. Armando Broja, Ben Chilwell, Wes Fofana, Reece James, N’Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Edou Mendy, Christian Pulisic and Raheem Sterling remain unavailable.

New boys are available though. Newly recruited left-footed defender Benoit Badiashile has more days training under his belt, Ivory Coast striker David Fofana notched his Blues debut on Sunday, and now the Blues have added Portugal forward Joao Felix on loan from Atletico.

Despite being out of favour with coach Diego Simeone, the 23-year-old has delivered virtually a goal or an assist every 90 minutes when called upon in La Liga. Predominantly right-footed, the former Benfica star also scores regularly with his left boot and his head.

Fluent in English, Joao played 72 minutes for Atleti on Sunday. Graham Potter said yesterday the club was waiting for the confirmation he is cleared to play if selected this evening. Potter will likely deploy his new recruit behind or wide of a main striker and hope he swiftly assimilates the unique pace and physicality of the Premier League.

Joao Felix’s deft touches and smart movement make him a particular threat in the box and, as Fulham concede more chances on their goal than most, a record of 46 per cent shots on target this season could come in useful.

His assured touch and link play should help team-mates play through the lines too. Chelsea produce the second most short passes after Man City, sixth-highest medium-length, and second-lowest longer-distance distribution behind Leeds.

Chelsea’s January arrivals

Benoit Badiashile (Monaco), defender, 21 years old

Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid, loan), forward, 23

David Fofana (Molde), forward, 20

Andrey Santos (Vasco da Gama), midfielder, 18

Gabriel Slonina (Chicago Fire, loan return), goalkeeper, 18

Not only are Gabriel Slonina and Andrey Santos, both 18, Datro Fofana, 20, and Benoit Badiashile, 21, exceptional world talents in their age group, each was born after 1 January 2001. That makes them eligible to play for the Blues as Under-21 players in addition to the 25-man squad posted with the Premier League. Champions League rules are different. To be added to ‘List B’, a player has to be 21 or under but also associated with the club for a considerable period of time, which obviously does not apply to new signings.

Scouting the opposition: Fulham

Unlike Fulham’s previous post-promotion transfer windows, their head coach Marco Silva made a few judicious wise signings, and their overall success means he has used the most players apart from former club Everton, despite a regular core starting 11.

At 34, former Stamford Bridge hero Willian seems to have put an indifferent 2020/21 season at Arsenal behind him. Fulham signing his Arsenal team-mate, Bernd Leno, appeared a luxury considering the good form of incumbent between the sticks, Marek Rodak. Yet the German has the fifth highest saves-per-shot percentage this season (75.8 per cent, just two behind Kepa Arrizabalaga’s 81.1), despite his side conceding the third most attempts on target.

Joao Palhinha, a £20m catch from Sporting, has transformed the Cottagers’ midfield with his physicality and work-rate, making 20 more tackles than any other Premier League player. Andreas Pereira has proved a decent replacement for last season’s midfield star, Fabio Carvalho, who moved to Liverpool.

Silva has also depended on proven promotion standouts such as Tim Ream, a central defender and leader, and lone striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who is finally proving his top-flight worth with 11 league goals this term.

The Serbian cult hero is, though, banned tonight, leaving his coach with the dilemma of changing his beloved 4-2-3-1 system or deploying Vinicius as a straight swap. With the burly Mitrovic worrying defenders upfront, the Cottagers play very direct, attempting almost 20 per cent more long passes than the Blues.

Can Cottagers give yo-yo the heave-ho?

Chelsea are one of six clubs ever-present in the Premier League since 1992. But tonight, for the third time in 16 days, the Blues will tackle one of the trio of clubs promoted last season. Fulham were elevated as Championship winners, their third rise since 2018, following relegation after a single top-flight campaign for the second time in 2021.

Already on the same points they earned over their entire last Premier League season before relegation, our west London neighbours look set to break their snakes-and-ladders sequence of switching between tiers for five summers in a row. The Whites’ all-time longest spell in the top division was the 13 seasons from 2001 to 2014.

Premier League yo-yo clubs

Record-breaking opponent dies

Guy Thill, the teenage midfielder who played for opponents Jeunesse Hautcharage in both legs of Chelsea’s record-breaking 21-0 Cup Winners’ Cup victory over his team 52 years ago, has died aged 71. Interviewed by Chelsea in 2006 he recalled the historic September 1971 tie with great fondness, despite losing 8-0 at home and 13-0 at Stamford Bridge.

‘I was a student, there were steel and railway workers, a hairdresser and a butcher,’ he recalled of his part-time professional team-mates. ‘None of our work experience was any use to us against Chelsea, not even the butcher’s! I remember we were really happy to be drawn to play Chelsea, a big London club. The manager spoke to us before the game and told us to try not to lose too high.

‘And, well, they were too strong for us obviously. We had hardly any opportunity even to shoot. I had one chance to test [Peter] Bonetti, a free kick, at 2-0 – it would have been a sensation to score. He caught it. We had a good time in London for the return, looking around, doing the big sights.

‘The players were great with us, and signed autographs as we wished. I think there were 30,000 at Stamford Bridge. It was a great atmosphere. It was an experience. We never thought they’d be gentle with us and they weren’t. Thirteen goals to nil there, and twenty-one overall. It’s quite a lot.

‘We weren’t upset that it went in the history books, though - Luxembourg teams, we are used to it. After the game there was a dinner, and we met all the players. None of them said “hard luck” though! We really enjoyed the day. Funnily enough I returned to Stamford Bridge two years ago on business - it’s completely new now, a wonderful stadium.’

Everyone at Chelsea sends condolences to Guy’s family and friends for their loss.

• By club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton